HM 131

ff. 1-154v: [First introduction:] Here begynneth Brute in englysshe the Whiche declareth and treteth of All the kinges and of all the notable actes and dedes
the whyche hathe bene done in this lande sithe the furste begynnyng of this lande…[f. 1, Second introduction:] The prolog of this boke declareth howe this lande was furste called Albion after the eldest doughter of king dioclician of
Surrie that Was called Albine…[f. 1, Prologue:] Some tyme in the noble lande & Roialme of Surrie ther was a myghti and Worshipfull king called dioclician…And thanne the king entered the cite and the Castell and rested him þer and sette the cite in gouernaunce and rule.
F. W. D. Brie, ed., The Brut or the Chronicles of England. EETS os 131 and 136 (London 1906-08) 1-391 to the year 1419. HM 131 is of the expanded version discussed by Brie, Geschichte und Quellen der mittelenglischen Prosachronik The Brute of England oder The Chronicles of England (Marburg 1905) 82-83, possibly of Group C; this text seems abbreviated, but complete unto itself; the chapters are numbered to 210 erroneously
due to frequent skipping of numbers or of chapters. For extant manuscripts, see L. M. Matheson, “The Middle English Prose Brut: A Location List of Manuscripts and Early Printed Editions,” AEB 3 (1979) 254-66, including HM 131.Parchment, ff. iii (modern paper) + 154 + ii (modern paper); 199 × 165 (130 × 105) mm. 110 212 3-78 86(+7 through 9, ff. 69-71) 98(+9, f. 80) 106(+7, f. 87) 11-1610 178(-8).
All catchwords present and matching the following text; placed horizontally in the inner right corner. Quire signatures apparently a-d for quires 1-4; slashes only for quires 5-6; no marks visible on quire 7; quire 8, including
the added leaves, with “+”; quire 9 probably a, as quires 10-16 are b-h; leaf signatures in roman numerals. 25-29 long lines ruled in lead. Written in a mixed, but predominantly anglicana script.
4- and 3-line initials usually red with black flourishing; some blue with red; on the bifolium, ff. 64 and 67, occasional
spaces reserved for initials and some initials lacking penwork decoration. Paragraph marks, underlining in text and of chapter
numbers in outer margin, and rubrics all in red.
Finding notes in the margins and often in the upper right corner of the recto (usually with the name of the king) in one hand;
some marginalia in English in a later hand, possibly sixteenth century (e.g. ff. 108, 119, 120). The same (?) hand has written in the upper margin of
f. 66 “Beter <?>es for A woman to be” and in the lower margin “The heyer that the ploumes be, The heyer that the tres Be,
the Rippere be the plomes, <last line illegible>.” Final leaves repaired.
Bound, ca. 1830, in straight grain blue morocco with the Buccleuch crest on both covers.Written in England in the third quarter of the fifteenth century.
Possible possession notes are: s. XV, ff. 21v, 59v, 63 and 72, “Symon”; s. XVI1, f. 36v “Robard Burke” in the same hand as “Ferns” on f. 37; also of the sixteenth century are: ff. 64 and 70, a monogram of the letters “ROSE”;
f. 102, “To my welbelowed frend John peryne of Rykelly in” by the same person who jotted the sayings on f. 66; f. 125, “henry the viii by the grace of god [twice] domine dominus
noster Parker [twice] knyght.” Belonged to the 5th Duke of Buccleuch (1806-84) whose collection was inherited and sold by his son, William Montagu-Douglas-Scott, 6th Duke of Buccleuch (1831-1914), Sotheby’s, 25 March 1889, lot 211 to Quaritch; Quaritch Catalogue 103 (1890) n. 417. Henry White sale, Sotheby’s, 21 April 1902, lot 500 to Maggs; Maggs Catalogue 287 (1912) n. 1173 with plate of f. 102v. Sotheby’s, 17 July 1913, lot 963 to Joyes. Belonged to Herschel V. Jones (1861-1928) of Minneapolis;
his sale, Anderson, New York, 2 December 1918, pt. I, lot 242 with plate of f. 20 to G. D. Smith for Henry E. Huntington.